What are the most important skills for collaborating with other researchers?

2 Teamwork skills

Teamwork is the ability to work with others towards a common goal, while respecting and valuing their contributions, perspectives, and roles. Teamwork skills include coordinating, cooperating, delegating, negotiating, and resolving conflicts. To collaborate well with other researchers, you need to be flexible, reliable, supportive, and accountable. You also need to establish and maintain trust, rapport, and mutual understanding with your partners, and acknowledge and celebrate their achievements.

3 Critical thinking skills

Critical thinking is the ability to analyze, evaluate, and synthesize information, arguments, and evidence, and to apply them to solve problems and make decisions. Critical thinking skills include reasoning, logic, creativity, and innovation. To collaborate effectively with other researchers, you need to be curious, open-minded, and constructive. You also need to challenge and question your own and others' assumptions, biases, and limitations, and to seek and provide constructive feedback and alternative perspectives.

4 Ethical skills

Ethical skills are the ability to act with integrity, honesty, and responsibility in your research activities, and to adhere to the relevant ethical principles, standards, and regulations. Ethical skills include respecting the rights, dignity, and diversity of your research participants, collaborators, and stakeholders, protecting the confidentiality and privacy of your data and results, acknowledging and citing your sources and contributions, and avoiding plagiarism, fabrication, falsification, or misconduct. To collaborate ethically with other researchers, you need to be transparent, accountable, and respectful. You also need to communicate and agree on the ethical aspects of your collaboration, such as the ownership, authorship, dissemination, and impact of your research.

5 Interdisciplinary skills

Interdisciplinary skills are the ability to integrate and apply knowledge, methods, and perspectives from different disciplines or fields of study, and to address complex or novel research questions or challenges. Interdisciplinary skills include learning, adapting, and synthesizing. To collaborate interdisciplinarily with other researchers, you need to be curious, open-minded, and respectful. You also need to appreciate and value the diversity and complementarity of your partners' expertise, backgrounds, and approaches, and to communicate and translate your own discipline-specific terminology and concepts.

6 Digital skills

Digital skills are the ability to use, create, and share digital tools and resources, and to participate in digital environments and networks, for your research purposes. Digital skills include searching, accessing, managing, analyzing, visualizing, and presenting data and information, using digital platforms and software, and engaging in online communication and collaboration. To collaborate digitally with other researchers, you need to be proficient, confident, and responsible. You also need to select and use the appropriate and reliable digital tools and resources for your collaboration, and to follow the best practices and standards for data security, quality, and sharing.

7 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?